Let me first start by saying that not everybody should marry young.

Often marrying young can cause problems for those who aren't necessarily mature enough or ready to make such a big, life-altering decision. I don't need to explain to you how big of a commitment marriage is, nor do I need to tell you the numbers of how many marriages aren't happy/don't work out/cause big problems. Marriage is a daunting thing and can really make life difficult if it is done too early.

In the right situation with the right people, however, marrying young can totally rock.

I got married nearly a year-and-a-half- ago when I was 19 and my husband was 22.

Yes, 19.

People thought we were crazy and honestly, I would have thought we were too. I always knew I wanted to get married and have a family eventually, but there were so many things I felt I needed to do as a single girl before I got "tied down." I met Kody during my first semester of college and we started dating casually. Eventually, things got more serious and we knew we wanted to get married. I no longer cared about doing everything I thought I wanted to do as a single girl. Yes, people probably thought we were rushing things, but just like you shouldn't get married because of social pressures to do so, I didn't want to NOT get married just because I was worried what other people might think.

As cliché as it may sound, marrying my husband truly was the best decision I have made in my life. Like every marriage, it has involved a lot of learning and work but overall it has been unbelievably awesome! Contrary to popular belief, marrying young has some pretty great benefits and here are just a few of the many I have seen:

You get to grow up together

Although you have to be fairly mature to get married, if you do so when you are young, you still have to grow up a little bit. It has been great to learn about bills, taxes, insurance, and all of that grown-up stuff alongside my husband.

You have time to goof off

When you are married young, you often haven’t had a chance to establish a big career, have kids or do anything like that. You have the time to just hang out for a little bit and do the things the two of you like to do together. We have loved being able to stay up late playing games, taking spontaneous trips, and being able to have fun together.

There is less baggage

Being young, when we got married, meant that we didn’t have a whole lot of baggage coming into the marriage. We hadn’t had any crazy relationships with other people, children or any of the things that come from years and years of dating people. Marrying young also usually means that there isn’t a lot of dealing with combining money because there really isn’t a whole lot of money to combine!

You Have a Constant Cheerleader

In my own life, I have seen both my grades and my work performance improve since I got married. Things have become far more “real” for me, and school and work have become more of a priority than they were when I was single. For many young married couples, graduating and establishing a career happens in their 20s, setting a nice foundation for success in their 30s. Whether it is school, work, or anything else you are doing in life, it is so nice to have a spouse helping you out and cheering you on in everything you do.